Developer returns for 3rd try

May 09, 2001|By Bob Goldsborough. Special to the Tribune.

Proposing what would be Wheaton's largest single-family development in more than a decade, developer Joe Keim has submitted plans for a 64-home subdivision on one of the last sizable vacant tracts in the city.

Keim, who has built more than 1,000 houses in Wheaton in three decades, is making his third attempt to develop 31 acres on the north side of Butterfield Road just east of the Faith Evangelical Covenant Church. The plan is considerably scaled back from his two unsuccessful bids in the mid-1990s.

Keim proposed building 93 houses in 1995 but was unanimously rejected by the Wheaton City Council, which cited the plan's high density. He submitted a revised plan in 1996 for 89 homes but withdrew it after city officials learned that Keim was obligated to store considerably more storm-water runoff on the property than they had anticipated.

Now Keim said he is returning to the council with a less dense plan of homes ranging in price from $500,000 to $800,000. The development would be known as Arrowhead Lakes.

"I'm finally going to develop this," Keim said. "I've changed the whole product. It really is a great layout."

Because about 8 acres of Keim's property are unincorporated, he is seeking to annex that land to Wheaton and have the entire parcel rezoned for single-family use.

Given the drastic reduction in the number of lots, the proposal is not expected to encounter many objections from the council. City officials, however, have said they will require Keim to construct a sidewalk along the entire length of Butterfield Road, a condition Keim opposes.

The Wheaton Plan Commission is scheduled to get a first look at the plan June 5.